Plötzensee Prison (german: Justizvollzugsanstalt Plötzensee, JVA Plötzensee) is a juvenile prison in the

Charlottenburg-Nord Charlottenburg-Nord (, literally "Charlottenburg North") is a locality (''Ortsteil'') in the northern part of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough of Berlin, Germany. It is chiefly composed of after-war housing estates, allotment gardens and comm ...

locality of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

with a capacity for 577 prisoners, operated by the State of Berlin judicial administration. The detention centre established in 1868 has a long history; it became notorious during the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

era as one of the main sites of

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

, where about 3,000 inmates were executed. Famous inmates include

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

's last communist leader

Egon Krenz Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz (; born 19 March 1937) is a German former politician who was the last Communist leader of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) during the Revolutions of 1989. He succeeded Erich Honecker as the General Secretary ...

History

The prison was founded by resolution of the

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

government under King

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

and built until 1879 on the estates of the Plötzensee manor, named after nearby Plötzensee Lake (''Plötze'' is the local German name of the common roach, cf. ''Płoć'' in Polish). The area divided by the Berlin-Spandau Ship Canal opened in 1859 was located at the outskirts of the Tegel forest northwest of the Berlin city limits in the

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg (german: Provinz Brandenburg) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg ...

. The theologian

Johann Hinrich Wichern Johann Hinrich Wichern (21 April 1808 Hamburg – 7 April 1881 Hamburg) was a founder of the Home Mission (also translated as Inner Mission; German: ''Innere Mission'') movement in Germany. Biography Johann was born into a family of poverty, toge ...

had established the

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

''Johannesstift'' borstal nearby, which in 1905 moved to Spandau– Hakenfelde. In 1915, the lands east of the canal with Plötzensee Lake were incorporated into Berlin (the present-day

Wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

district), the remaining area around the prison walls became part of the Berlin

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the ...

borough upon the 1920 Greater Berlin Act. Since 2004, it belongs to the Charlottenburg-Nord locality. The original name of what is today ''Haus 1'' was ''Strafgefängnis Plötzensee'', which also translates to Plötzensee Prison. Up to 1,400 inmates lived on premises of including a church and a Jewish prayer area, then the largest prison of the German Empire. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the buildings demolished by the bombing of Berlin were rebuilt and housed a

youth detention center In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile de ...

(''Jugendstrafanstalt Berlin'') for offenders between the ages of 14 and 21. When it in 1987 moved to a newly built annex on Friedrich-Olbricht-Damm in the west, ''Haus 1'' of Plötzensee Prison again became a men's prison with capacity for 577 inmates. Upon the end of the Cold War and German reunification, the last communist

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

leader

, convicted for manslaughter by ''

Schießbefehl (; German for "order to fire") was the term in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) for standing orders authorizing the use of lethal force by the Border Troops to prevent (defection) at the Inner German border from 1960 to 1989 ...

'' order at the Berlin Wall, from 2000 until 2003 served his sentence there. In 1983, a modern women's prison was built south of Friedrich-Olbricht-Damm on the

Bundesautobahn 100 is an Autobahn in Germany. The A 100 partially encloses the city centre of the German capital Berlin, running from the Wedding district of the Berlin- Mitte borough in a southwestern arc through Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Tempelhof- ...

(''Stadtring'') highway, since 1998 it houses the ''JVA Charlottenburg'' for about 300 adult male prisoners, mainly

drug addicts Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...

. One in three inmates of the prison is incarcerated for repeated public transport fare evasion.

Plötzensee Memorial

Exterior sign at Plotzensee Memorial 1984

During Imperial and

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...

eras until 1933 there were 36 executions carried out in Plötzensee, all for murder and all by beheading with an

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

according to the old German ''

Strafgesetzbuch ''Strafgesetzbuch'' (), abbreviated to ''StGB'', is the German penal code. History In Germany the ''Strafgesetzbuch'' goes back to the Penal Code of the German Empire passed in the year 1871 on May 15 in Reichstag which was largely identica ...

'' penal code. After the Nazi '' Machtergreifung'', the prison housed both regular criminals and political prisoners. Plötzensee was one of eleven selected central execution sites established in 1936 throughout Germany by the order of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and Reich Minister of Justice Franz Gürtner. Each was operated by a full-time

executioner An executioner, also known as a hangman or headsman, is an official who executes a sentence of capital punishment on a legally condemned person. Scope and job The executioner was usually presented with a warrant authorising or order ...

carrying out the rising numbers of death sentences, especially after the penal law was again tightened in

. By a 1943 agreement with the OKW they became also responsible for the execution of

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

members according to German military law. The convicts were beheaded by a stationary

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...

(''Fallbeil''), from 1942 also by

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

. During the Nazi regime, an official record of 2,891 people convicted by the Berlin Kammergericht, the notorious " People's Court" under

Roland Freisler Roland Freisler (30 October 1893 – 3 February 1945), a German Nazi jurist, judge, and politician, served as the State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of Justice from 1934 to 1942 and as President of the People's Court from 1942 to 1945. As ...

and several '' Sondergerichte'', were executed in Plötzensee, initially with an axe in the prison's courtyard. From 1937 the convicts were beheaded with a guillotine brought from Bruchsal Prison and installed in a backyard work shed, a ground-level brick building near the prison walls, to where the victims had to walk from a nearby cell block. In 1942, a beam was assembled in the same room, serving as gallows for up to eight victims at one time. The bereaved were obliged to pay a fee of for each day the detainee had spent in prison plus an extra execution charge of .

Executions of opponents of the Nazi regime

About half of those executed were Germans, most of whom were sentenced to death for acts of resistance against the Nazi regime, among them members of the Red Orchestra, the 20 July plot and the

Kreisau Circle The Kreisau Circle (German: ''Kreisauer Kreis'', ) (1940–1944) was a group of about twenty-five German dissidents in Nazi Germany led by Helmuth James von Moltke, who met at his estate in the rural town of Kreisau, Silesia. The circle was com ...

. 677 executed prisoners were from

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, among them many members of the Czech resistance to Nazi occupation from 1938–39 onwards. 253 death sentences were carried out against

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...

, and 245 against French citizens. These people included both the members of resistance organizations and people who were deported to Germany for forced labour. About 300 were women. After execution, their bodies were released to Hermann Stieve, an anatomist at the medical college of what is now

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

. He and his students or assistants dissected them for research purposes. Stieve was especially interested in the effects of stress on the menstrual cycle, and wrote 230 papers based on this research, among them one that demonstrated that the rhythm method was not an effective method of preventing conception. After an

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

air raid in the night of 3 September 1943 irreparably damaged the guillotine and destroyed large parts of the prison buildings, State Secretary

Curt Rothenberger Curt Ferdinand Rothenberger (30 June 1896, in Cuxhaven – 1 September 1959, in Hamburg) was a German jurist and leading figure in the Nazi Party. Hamburg In the immediate aftermath of the Nazi seizure of power Rothenberger was part of an unoffici ...

in the Reich Ministry of Justice via telephone ordered the immediate execution of the Plötzensee condemned. About 250 people—six of them "erroneously"— waiting in rows of eight were hanged during the so-called Plötzensee Bloody Nights from 7 to 12 September. The last execution was carried out on 20 April 1945. The remaining inmates were liberated by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

in the course of the Battle of Berlin five days later. Gedenkstaette Ploetzensee02

Today the execution shed is a memorial site operated by the Memorial to the German Resistance institution to commemorate those executed by the Nazis. Separated from the prison area, it was dedicated by the

Senate of Berlin The Senate of Berlin (german: Berliner Senat) is the executive body governing the city of Berlin, which at the same time is a state of Germany. According to the the Senate consists of the Governing Mayor of Berlin and up to ten senators appoint ...

on 14 September 1952 in the remaining two rooms with its drain and the preserved gallows. The guillotine had been dismantled after the war and disappeared in the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...

. Onto the execution room a memorial wall was built "To the Victims of Hitler's Dictatorship of the Years 1933–1945". In 1963, the Catholic Diocese of Berlin erected its memorial for the victims about to the west in the commemorative church of Maria Regina Martyrum, the nearby Protestant Church of Plötzensee was inaugurated in 1970, featuring a

Danse Macabre The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ) (from the French language), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory of the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of ...

cycle (''Plötzenseer Totentanz'') by Alfred Hrdlicka. Both institutions are site of the annual Ecumenical Plötzensee Days. Several streets in the surrounding Charlottenburg-Nord housing estates were named after executed resistance fighters.

Executed prisoners

Bundesarchiv Bild 151-22-35, Volksgerichtshof, Ulrich von Hassell

Bundesarchiv Bild 151-25-07, Berlin, Volksgerichtshof, Erich Hoepner

Bundesarchiv Bild 147-1277, Volksgerichtshof, Helmuth James Graf v

Bundesarchiv Bild 151-43-22A, Volksgerichtshof, Adam von Trott zu Solz

* Abdulla Aliş (1908-1944), poet who fought in World War II; beheaded * Rita Arnould (1914-1943), resistance group member * Judith Auer (1905-1944), resistance fighter; hanged *

Bernhard Bästlein Bernhard Bästlein (; 3 December 1894 in Hamburg – 18 September 1944 in Brandenburg an der Havel) was a German Communist and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime. He was imprisoned very shortly after the Nazis seized power in 1933 and wa ...

(1894-1944), communist and resistance fighter * Maurice Bavaud (1916-1941), failed assassin of Hitler; beheaded * Marianne Baum (1912-1942), anti-Nazi convicted of treason following an attack in Berlin; beheaded * Cato Bontjes van Beek (1920-1943), resistance fighter; beheaded * Karl Behrens (1909-1943), engineer and resistance fighter * Heinrich Belohlavek (1889-1943), Austrian footballer and resistance member; beheaded * Liane Berkowitz (1923-1943), resistance fighter; beheaded * Robert Bernardis (1908-1944), Austrian resistance fighter; was involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler * Irena Bernášková (1904-1942), Czech resistance fighter and journalist; beheaded * Hans-Jürgen von Blumenthal (1907-1944), aristocrat who conspired to assassinate Hitler *

Hasso von Boehmer Hasso von Boehmer (9 August 1904 – 5 March 1945) was a German lieutenant colonel on the General Staff and one of the 20 July Plotters. Hasso von Boehmer belonged to Infantry Regiment 9 (I.R. 9) from Potsdam, from which also came many of the o ...

(1904-1945), lieutenant colonel who plotted to assassinate Hitler * Eugen Bolz (1881-1945), politician and resistance member * Erika von Brockdorff (1911-1943), resistance fighter; beheaded *

Eduard Brücklmeier Eduard Robert Wolfgang Brücklmeier (8 June 1903 – 20 October 1944) was a German diplomat and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime, who was executed as a result of his association with the 20 July Plot. Life Brücklmeier was bor ...

(1903-1944), diplomat and resistance fighter; hanged * Eva-Maria Buch (1921-1943), resistance fighter; beheaded * Musa Cälil (1905-1944), Soviet-Tatar resistance fighter; beheaded * Hans Coppi (1916-1942), resistance fighter; hanged * Hilde Coppi (1909-1943), Hans's wife * Alfred Corbin (1916-1943), resistance fighter * Walter Cramer (1886-1944), businessman involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Alfred Delp (1907-1945), jesuit priest falsely implicated for plotting to overthrow Hitler * Heinrich zu Dohna-Schlobitten (1882-1944), major general and resistance fighter * Charlotte Eisenblätter (1903-1944), Anti-Nazi activist * Hans Otto Erdmann (1896-1944), Army officer involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Benita von Falkenhayn (1900-1935), baroness and spy; beheaded by axe *

Erich Fellgiebel Fritz Erich Fellgiebel (4 October 1886 – 4 September 1944) was a German Army general of signals and resistance fighter in the 20 July plot to assassinate Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. In 1929, Fellgiebel became head of the cipher bureau (german: C ...

(1886-1944), army general who plotted to assassinate Hitler *

Eberhard Finckh Eberhard Finckh (7 November 1899 – 30 August 1944) was a German colonel on the general staff of the German Army, a longtime opponent of Nazism and a member of the German resistance to Adolf Hitler's regime. Biography Finckh was born in Ku ...

(1899-1944), colonel and resistance member; hanged * Reinhold Frank (1896-1945), lawyer involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Julius Fučík (1903-1943), journalist accused of high treason * Willi Gall (1908-1941), communist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Jakob Gapp (1897-1943), Austrian roman catholic priest and anti-Nazi activist; beheaded * Charlotte Garske (1906-1943), political activist who opposed the Nazi government * Erich Garske (1907-1943), husband of Charlotte * Erwin Gehrts (1890-1943), socialist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Erich and Elizabeth Gloeden, and Elisabeth Kuznitzky, entire family beheaded for sheltering a conspirator in 1944 *

Carl Friedrich Goerdeler Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (; 31 July 1884 – 2 February 1945) was a monarchist conservative German politician, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime. He opposed some anti-Jewish policies while he held office and was ...

(1884-1945), politician who opposed the Holocaust; hanged * Fritz Goerdeler (1886-1945), Carl's brother; hanged * Ursula Goetze (1916-1943), resistance fighter; beheaded * Helene Gotthold (1896-1944), Jehovah's Witness who opposed the Nazis; beheaded * John Graudenz (1884-1942), journalist and resistance fighter; strangled * Medardo Griotto (1901-1943), militant communist activist; beheaded * Nikolaus Gross (1898-1945), Roman Catholic falsely arrested for the attempted assassination of Hitler * Alfred Grünberg (1902-1942), Communist party member and resistance fighter; hanged * Wilhelm Guddorf (1902-1943), Belgian journalist and resistance fighter * Hans Bernd von Haeften (1905-1944), jurist who conspired to assassinate Hitler * Albrecht von Hagen (1904-1944), jurist and resistance fighter; hanged * Otto and Elise Hampel, couple who protested against the Nazis; beheaded * Georg Hansen (1904-1944), Army colonel and resistance fighter; hanging * Arvid Harnack (1901-1942), jurist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Ernst von Harnack (1888-1945), Prussian official and resistance fighter * Mildred Harnack (1902-1943), American teacher and resistance fighter; beheaded * Paul von Hase (1885-1944), career soldier and resistance fighter; hanged * Ulrich von Hassell (1881-1944), diplomat and resistance member; hanged *

Elli Hatschek Elli Hatschek (July 2, 1901 – December 8, 1944) was a member of the German Resistance against Nazism. She was married to Paul Hatschek, a leading member of the resistance group, the European Union and who was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943. Und ...

(1901-1944), resistance member; beheaded *

Theodor Haubach Theodor Haubach (15 September 1896 in Frankfurt am Main – 23 January 1945 in Berlin) was a German journalist, SPD politician, and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime. Theodor Haubach spent his childhood and youth in Darmstadt. In 1914 ...

(1896-1945), journalist and resistance fighter *

Egbert Hayessen Egbert Hayessen (28 December 1913 – 15 August 1944) was a German resistance fighter in the struggle against Adolf Hitler, and a major in the army. Born in Eisleben, Hayessen grew up on the Hessian state domain of Mittelhof near Felsberg-Gens ...

(1913-1944), resistance fighter; hanged * Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorf (1896-1944), police official involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler; hanged *

Horst Heilmann Horst Heilmann (15 April 1923 – 22 December 1942) was a German resistance fighter against the Nazi regime. He was a member of the anti-fascist resistance group that formed around Harro Schulze-Boysen. This group and many others were bundled t ...

(1923-1942), resistance fighter; hanged * Albert Hensel (1895-1942), communist and resistance fighter *

Otto Herfurth Otto Herfurth (22 January 1893 – 29 September 1944) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Herfurth was a conspirator in the 20 July Plot. Herfurth was th ...

(1893-1944), general involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler; hanged *

Liselotte Herrmann Liselotte Herrmann (called "Lilo", 23 June 1909 – 20 June 1938, executed) was a German Communist Resistance fighter in Nazi Germany. Life Born in Berlin, Liselotte Herrmann, an engineer’s daughter, had a middle class liberal upbringing. Afte ...

(1909-1938), communist resistance fighter; beheaded * Helmut Himpel (1907-1943), dentist and resistance fighter; hanged *

Helmut Hirsch Helmut Hirsch (; January 27, 1916 in Stuttgart – June 4, 1937 in Berlin) was a German Jew who was executed for his part in a bombing plot intended to destabilize the German Reich. Although a full and accurate account of the plot is unknown, his ...

(1916-1937), German Jew arrested for taking part in a bombing; decapitated * Erich Hoepner (1886-1944), General who conspired to assassinate Hitler *

Caesar von Hofacker Caesar von Hofacker (sometimes Cäsar; 2 March 1896 – 20 December 1944) was a German Luftwaffe Lieutenant Colonel and member of the 20 July plot against Adolf Hitler. Career Hofacker was born in Ludwigsburg; his father Eberhard von Hofacker ...

(1896-1944), lieutenant colonel who plotted to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Rosa Hofmann (1919-1943), Communist youth leader and resistance activist *

Bedřich Homola Army General Bedřich Homola (2 June 1887, Běleč – 5 January 1943, Berlin, Plötzensee Prison) was a Czechoslovak soldier, general, legionnaire who fought for the Allies during the First World War, and the Head Commander of the anti-Nazi re ...

(1887-1943), Czech soldier and anti-Nazi commander * Roland von Hößlin (1915-1944), army officer who plotted to assassinate Hitler *

Helmuth Hübener Helmuth Günther Guddat Hübener (8 January 1925 – 27 October 1942) was a German youth who was executed at age 17 by beheading for his opposition to the Nazi regime. He was the youngest person of the German resistance to Nazism to be sent ...

(1925-1942), youth who opposed the Nazi regime; was the youngest prisoner ever executed at age 17; beheaded * Walter Husemann (1909-1943), communist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Richard Hüttig (1908-1934), communist accused of attempted murder and breach of peace; beheaded by axe * Hildegard Jadamowitz (1916-1942), communist activist *

Friedrich Gustav Jaeger Friedrich Gustav Jaeger (25 September 1895 – 21 August 1944) was a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany and a member of the 20 July Plot. Resistance activities In 1938, after the Sudeten Crisis, Jaeger took part in the German invasion of Czecho ...

(1895-1944), resistance fighter; hanged * Heinz Joachim (1919-1942), anti-government resistance group memberCox 2009
p. 133
/ref> * Marianne Joachim (1921-1943), Heinz's wife * Wanda Kallenbach (1902-1944), was charged with undermining the war and helping the enemy; beheaded * Heinz Kapelle (1913-1941), YCLG member accused of high treason * Walter Küchenmeister (1897-1943), machine technician and resistance fighter * Otto Kiep (1886-1944), resistance fighter; hanged *

Johanna Kirchner Johanna "Hanna" Kirchner (née Johanna Stunz; 24 April 1889 – 9 June 1944) was a German opponent of the Nazi régime. Johanna Stunz came from a social-democratic family from Frankfurt, Hesse-Nassau. Her grandfather was one of Frankfurt's fi ...

(1889-1944), opponent of the Nazi regime; beheaded * Hans Georg Klamroth (1898-1944), officer involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler * Friedrich Klausing (1920-1944), resistance fighter who plotted to assassinate Hitler * Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin (1890-1945), lawyer who plotted to assassinate Hitler * Theodor Korselt (1891-1943), jurist who negatively influenced Germany's fighting forces * Alfred Kranzfelder (1908-1944), naval officer and resistance member; hanged * Anna Krauss (1884-1943), fortune teller and resistance fighter; beheaded *

Karlrobert Kreiten Karlrobert Kreiten (26 June 1916, Bonn, Rhine Province – 7 September 1943) was a German pianist, though holding Dutch citizenship his entire life due to his Dutch father. Biography He was regarded by Wilhelm Furtwängler and others to be one ...

(1916-1943), pianist accused of making negative remarks about Hitler; hanged * Adam Kuckhoff (1887-1943), writer and resistance member * Ingeborg Kummerow (1912-1943), office worker charged with aiding and abetting espionage; beheaded * Carl Langbehn (1901-1944), lawyer and resistance member; hanged * Krista Lavíčková (1917-1944), Czech secretary who fought against Nazism; beheaded * Julius Leber (1891-1945), politician and resistance member * Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort (1909-1944), East Prussian aristocrat who plotted to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Paul Lejeune-Jung (1882-1944), lawyer and resistance fighter; hanged * Ludwig Freiherr von Leonrod (1906-1944), Army officer who plotted to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Bernhard Letterhaus (1894-1944), unionist and Nazi resistance member * Franz Leuninger (1898-1945), politician and resistance member *

Wilhelm Leuschner Wilhelm Leuschner (15 June 1890, in Bayreuth, Bavaria – 29 September 1944, in Berlin-Plötzensee) was a trade unionist and Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic politician. An early opponent of Nazism, he organized underground ...

(1890-1944), trade unionist involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler * Herta Lindner (1920-1943), resistance fighter * Hans Otfried von Linstow (1899-1944), Army colonel who plotted to assassinate Hitler * Hildegard Löwy (1922-1943), office worker and anti-Nazi resistance member; beheaded * Ferdinand von Lüninck (1888-1944), officer involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler; hanged * Mikhail Varfolomeevich Makarov (1915-c.1942), possibly; was a career spy * Rudolf von Marogna-Redwitz (1886-1944), colonel who plotted to assassinate Hitler; hanged *

Hermann Maaß Hermann Maaß (23 October 1897 – 20 October 1944) was a German member of the Resistance against the Nazi régime. Biography Maaß was born in Bromberg, Province of Posen, German Empire (modern Bydgoszcz, Poland), he volunteered for the German ...

(1897-1944), resistance member * Michael von Matuschka (1888-1944), politician who plotted to assassinate Hitler *

Basile Maximovitch Basile Maximovitch (2 July 1902, Chernihiv, Chernigov - c. 6 July 1943, Plötzensee Prison, Berlin) was a Russian aristocrat and civil mining engineer. He became a Soviet agent by choice and subsequently became an important member of the Red Orc ...

(1902-c.1943), Russian aristocrat; beheaded *

Anna Maximovitch Anna Pavlovna Maximovitch (8 May 1901, Chernihiv, Chernigov – c. 20 July 1943, Plötzensee Prison, Berlin) was a Russian aristocrat and neurology, neuropsychiatrist, who became an informer and important member of the Red Orchestra (espionage) ...

(1901-c.1943), sister of Basile *

Joachim Meichssner Joachim Meichssner (4 April 1906 – 29 September 1944) was a German Army officer and member of the Resistance against the Nazi régime. Biography Meichssner was born in Deutsch Eylau, West Prussia, German Empire (modern Iława, Poland). Since ...

(1906-1944), army officer and resistance member * Herbert Michaelis (1898-1939), resistance member *

Helmuth James Graf von Moltke Helmuth James Graf von Moltke (11 March 1907 – 23 January 1945) was a German jurist who, as a draftee in the German Abwehr, acted to subvert German human-rights abuses of people in territories occupied by Germany during World War II. He w ...

(1907-1945), jurist accused of treason * Renate von Natzmer (1898-1935), spy; beheaded by axe *

Arthur Nebe Arthur Nebe (; 13 November 1894 – 21 March 1945) was a German SS functionary who was key in the security and police apparatus of Nazi Germany and from 1941, a major perpetrator of the Holocaust. Nebe rose through the ranks of the Prussia ...

(1894-1945), Nazi convicted of treason * Eugen Neutert (1905-1943), communist and resistance fighter * Johann Nobis (1899-1940), conscientious objector *

Véra Obolensky Véra Obolensky (russian: Вера Аполлоновна Оболенская; 11 June 1911 – 4 August 1944) was a French Resistance member during World War II (1939–45). She served as secretary of the OCM, an important resistance organizatio ...

(1911-1944), French resistance fighter; beheaded * Ruth Oesterreich (1894-1943), anti-government activist; hanged * Paul Ogorzow (1912-1941), serial killer; beheaded * Erwin Planck (1893-1945), politician and resistance fighter; hanged * Johannes Popitz (1884-1945), Prussian finance minister and resistance member; hanged * Karl Ernst Rahtgens (1908-1944), officer and resistance fighter; hanged *

Rudolf Redlinghofer Rudolf Redlinghofer (31 October 1900 – 11 January 1940) was an Austrian conscientious objector and victim of the Nazi regime. The Republic of Austria reversed his sentence 58 years after his execution, and Rudolf Redlinghofer became one of the ...

(1900-1940), conscientious objector * Friedrich Rehmer (1921-1943), factory worker and resistance fighter * Adolf Rembte (1902-1937), communist and resistance fighter; beheaded *

Adolf Reichwein Adolf Reichwein (3 October 1898 – 20 October 1944) was a German educator, economist, and cultural policymaker for the SPD, who resisted the policies of Nazi Germany. Biography Reichwein was born in Bad Ems. He took part in the First World W ...

(1898-1944), educator who resisted German policies * John Rittmeister (1898-1943), neurologist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Alexis von Roenne (1903-1944), colonel accused of plotting to assassinate Hitler * Galina Romanova (1918-1944), Ukrainian doctor and resistance fighter; beheaded *

Joachim Sadrozinski Joachim Sadrozinski (9 September 1907 – 29 September 1944) was a German Army officer who took part in the 20 July plot.Lothar Salinger (1919-1943), resistant activistCox 2009
p. 134
/ref> * Rudolf von Scheliha (1897-1942), aristocrat and resistance fighter; hanged * Rose Schlösinger (1907-1943), social worker and resistance fighter; beheaded * Oda Schottmüller (1905-1943), dancer and resistance fighter; beheaded * Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg (1875-1944), diplomat who plotted to assassinate Hitler; hanged *

Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg Fritz-Dietlof Graf von der Schulenburg (5 September 1902 – 10 August 1944) was a German government official and a member of the German Resistance in the 20 July Plot against Adolf Hitler. Personal development Schulenburg was born in Lond ...

(1902-1944), son of Friedrich-Werner; hanged * Harro Schulze-Boysen (1909-1942), publicist convicted of high treason; hanged * Libertas Schulze-Boysen (1913-1942), Harro's wife * Elisabeth Schumacher (1904-1942), artist and resistance fighter *

Kurt Schumacher Curt Ernst Carl Schumacher, better known as Kurt Schumacher (13 October 1895 – 20 August 1952), was a German politician who became chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1946 and the first Leader of the Opposition in the Wes ...

(1905-1942), anti-fascist group member; hanged * Friedrich Schumann (1893-1921), serial killer; beheaded by axe * Wilhelm Schürmann-Horster (1900-1943), marxist communist; hanged * Ludwig Schwamb (1890-1945), jurist and resistance fighter; hanged * Ulrich Wilhelm Graf Schwerin von Schwanenfeld (1902-1944), landowner and resistance fighter; hanged * Gertrud Seele (1917-1945), nurse and social worker who helped Jews; beheade

* Fritz Siedentopf (1908-1944), communist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Franz Sperr (1878-1945), resistance member; hanged * Günther Smend (1912-1944), officer who plotted to assassinate Hitler; hanged *

Robert Stamm Robert Stamm (16 July 1900 – 4 November 1937) was a German politician, a Communist (KPD) member of the Reichstag from Bremen, and a victim of the Nazi régime. Already by the age of 14, Robert Stamm had become involved with the Socialist You ...

(1900-1937), politician who conspired to commit treason; beheaded * Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1905-1944), aristocrat who plotted to assassinate Hitler *

Helmuth Stieff Hellmuth Stieff (6 June 1901 – 8 August 1944) was a German general and a member of the OKH (German Army Headquarters) during World War II. He took part in attempts by the German resistance to assassinate Adolf Hitler on 7 and 20 July 1944. C ...

(1901-1944), general involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler * Ilse Stöbe (1911-1942), journalist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Heinz Strelow (1915-1943), journalist and resistance fighter; beheaded * Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel (1886-1944), General convicted of treason * Maria Terwiel (1910-1943), resistance fighter; beheaded * Elisabeth von Thadden (1890-1944), progressive educator and resistance fighter; beheaded * Fritz Thiele (1894-1944), resistance member; hanged * Fritz Thiel (1916-1943), engineer and resistance fighter; not the same man above * Busso Thoma (1899-1945), major who plotted to assassinate Hitler; hanged *

Adam von Trott zu Solz Friedrich Adam von Trott zu Solz (9 August 1909 – 26 August 1944) was a German lawyer and diplomat who was involved in the conservative resistance to Nazism. A declared opponent of the Nazi regime from the beginning, he actively participated in ...

(1909-1944), lawyer who conspired to assassinate Hitler * Nikolaus von Üxküll-Gyllenband (1877-1944), businessman who conspired to assassinate Hitler *

Peter Yorck von Wartenburg Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg (13 November 1904 – 8 August 1944) was a German jurist and a member of the German Resistance against Nazism. He studied law and politics in Bonn and Breslau from 1923 to 1926, gaining his doctorate in Breslau i ...

(1904-1944), jurist and resistance fighter * Hermann Josef Wehrle (1899-1944), Catholic priest involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler * Carl Wentzel (1875-1944), farmer involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler * Josef Wirmer (1901-1944), jurist and resistance fighter; hanged *

Erwin von Witzleben Job Wilhelm Georg Erdmann Erwin von Witzleben (4 December 1881 – 8 August 1944) was a German field marshal in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. A leading conspirator in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, he was designated to ...

(1881-1944), field marshal who conspired to assassinate Hitler * Irene Wosikowski (1910-1944), political activist; beheaded * Emmy Zehden (1900-1944), Jehovah's Witness and resistance member; beheaded

References

Sources

*Brigitte Oleschinski: ''Gedenkstätte Plötzensee''. Berlin: Gedenkstätte Dt. Widerstand, 1997 (3. Auflage), *Cox, John M.,
Circles of Resistance: Jewish, Leftist, and Youth Dissidence in Nazi Germany
', Peter Lang, 2009.

External links

Plötzensee Memorial Center ebook published by the German Resistance Memorial Center Berlin

Plötzensee Prison homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plotzensee Prison Prisons in Germany Buildings and structures in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Heritage sites in Berlin Execution sites Men's prisons